NewTeaDay 9/15/12 Are you in the ZONE?

[Chip]

Happy TeaWeekend TCers! Looks like it is going to be a gorgeous September weekend here, perfect for brewing lots of tea!
Please share your teas with us here in TeaDay or in each of the specific type of tea topics located under Tea and TeaWare.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. What percentage of your tea purchases are made in your "comfort zone" of teas you already know you enjoy, verses taking risks with teas you do not know? Please share.

I am looking forward to sharing TeaDay with everyone, outside of their "comfort zones." Bottoms up!

[brlarson]

Sadly, I have been 100% in my comfort zone, tea-wise, for the last couple of years. Work has kept me so busy that I haven't been willing to distract myself with anything new.

Had Seven Cups lao cong shui xian this morning. O-Cha's yutaka midori shincha is next on the menu.

[debunix]

Guessing 80/20, always open to new but when I really like a tea I want to enjoy that one again.

Today, just one tea so far (sad!), a session with some of the floral/fruity Xue Dian Mei Lan green tea from Norbu. It's wonderful when I get it right, but it does get bitter if I get sloppy. It's been around for a while, a 2010 spring tea bought in late 2010 and now it's 2012, so some of the better qualities are a little faded. Still, a pleasing tea, and the sessions are even more pleasing since brewed with my Petr Novak Shiboridashi and drunk from my Nakao 'spring' galaxy cup from Magokorodo.

[AdamMY]

"Life is too short for bad tea" so now that I have found a few vendors I am rather fond of, or hear about a very well respected vendor and some of their offerings that are great, I tend to go with teas I feel more comfortable with about 60% of the time now. In contrast to a year or two ago, in which I am not sure I have ordered from a single vendor more than twice in my entire loose leaf tea drinking life. I do like to try and find new teas so about 40% of the vendors I try are new.

I will say though that even with those 40% I wouldn't say I am shooting blindly in the dark, there usually is something that convinces me it is worth taking a shot on trying. Examples of which for me from the past year are Phoenix teashop and Maiko, both of which I had people I trusted who felt confident with their offerings so I decided to take the plunge.

[Tadpole]

For every tea in my comfort zone, I allow myself to try something different. Excessive? No way!

Current comforts are: AliShan, TungTing, Fukamushi sencha, Yunnan black, Wuyi oolongs.

The "special" ones right now: Matcha iri genmaicha, Keemun, Lapsang souchong, Charcoal roasted TungTing, and a phoenix oolong.

[teaisme]

I went 20/80 since I am still sampling away pretty heavy, still a little child in a big big world, I give myself a couple more years before I settle down a little bit more, but having so much fun right now....don't know....maybe I won't ever settle down

Most tea sessions are still very comfortable though, only two or four disappointments in a myriad of samples/50-100g orders. I have teachat and others more versed to thank for this nice success rate

[sriracha]

Hmm... if 'teas I already know' means a tea type I'd say perhaps 50/50, if it means any tea within a type it's lower than that. I don't often repurchase the exact same tea, I prefer trying new ones.

A nepalese black so far today for breakfast, decent for the price but I've had better.

[SilentChaos]

I always try as far as I can at the time to discover the character of each individual tea I drink, so my 'comfort zone' is more a matter of a number of teas which were so tasty I just had to get them again.

[Kathy Marie]

I'm just beginning and loose leaf tea is pretty far from Constant Comment!

I want to see about getting some sampling packs, buying two ounces each of everything adds up.

Kathy Marie

[bryan_drinks_tea]

I really enjoy switching it up and finding unfamiliar tea. I have my usual Yencha, Sencha, and puerh, but sometimes I'll grab bags of off the wall hei cha for fun.